2 Chronicles 3:13
in 2 Chronicles 3So the total wingspan of these cherubim was twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main room.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The wings of these cherubim spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
KJV
The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Their faces were inward - literally, as in the margin. Instead of looking toward one another, with heads bent downward over the mercy Seat, like the cherubim of Moses Exo 37:9, these of Solomon looked out from the sanctuary into the great chamber (“the house”). The cherubim thus stood upright on either side of the ark, like two sentinels guarding it.
This site's exposition
two cherubims of image work
on 2 Chronicles 3:10-13
Verse ten's phrase for how the cherubim were made, image work, occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, and its sense is worked out from an Arabic cognate rather than known usage. Their wings match the twenty cubit span Kings already gives, filling the width of the house wall to wall. Their faces were inward, looking out from the sanctuary into the great chamber rather than bowed toward each other over the mercy seat as Moses' cherubim do in Exodus, so this pair stand less like the ark's own cover and more like two sentinels guarding what is behind them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
We must not worship angels, but we must worship with angels; for we have come into communion with them ( Heb. xii. 22 ), and must do the will of God as the angels do it. The thought that we are worshipping him before whom the angels cover their faces will help to inspire us with reverence in all our approaches to God.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
two cherubims--These figures in the tabernacle were of pure gold (Ex 25:1-40) and overshadowed the mercy seat. The two placed in the temple were made of olive wood, overlaid with gold.
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How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
standing on their feet on the floor of the House to the west.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And he made the dividing curtain of blue, purple and he hung it on the door that was in the cubit between the two partitions, through which they would enter the Holy of Holies.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּנְפֵי֙ | kanfei | [the] wings of | H3671 → | 109 times |
| הַכְּרוּבִ֣ים | hakeruvim | the cherubim | H3742 → | 91 times |
| הָאֵ֔לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| פֹּֽרְשִׂ֖ים | poresim | [were] spreading out | H6566 → | 67 times |
| אַמּ֣וֹת | ʾamot | cubits | H520 → | 247 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֑ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| וְהֵ֛ם | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| עֹמְדִ֥ים | ʾomedim | [were] standing | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם | ragleihem | feet their | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וּפְנֵיהֶ֥ם | ufeneihem | and faces their | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| לַבָּֽיִת׃ ס | labayit | [were] to the inside | H1004 → | 2046 times |
כַּנְפֵי֙[the] wings of
kanfeiH3671 →109 times
הַכְּרוּבִ֣יםthe cherubim
hakeruvimH3742 →91 times
הָאֵ֔לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
פֹּֽרְשִׂ֖ים[were] spreading out
poresimH6566 →67 times
אַמּ֣וֹתcubits
ʾamotH520 →247 times
עֶשְׂרִ֑יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
וְהֵ֛םand they
vehemH1992 →553 times
עֹמְדִ֥ים[were] standing
ʾomedimH5975 →521 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רַגְלֵיהֶ֖םfeet their
ragleihemH7272 →247 times
וּפְנֵיהֶ֥םand faces their
ufeneihemH6440 →2123 times
לַבָּֽיִת׃ ס[were] to the inside
labayitH1004 →2046 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 25:20And the cherubim are to have wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the mercy seat.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 28:18
the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense; and the plans for the chariot of the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the…
- 1 Kings 8:7
For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.
- Hebrews 9:5
Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
- Isaiah 6:1–5
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
- Exodus 25:18
Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,
- 1 Chronicles 28:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.